Many current e-commerce websites include means for web site users to complete transactions, such as purchases. One such means is a cart which allows a user to maintain a list of items the user is interested in purchasing while the user continues to browse the site. Carts like this can be referred to as “e-carts.” Many e-carts allow a user to maintain a list of items even after the user leaves the web site. Upon a user returning to a web site, the e-cart will display the items previously added.
Current e-carts may suffer from a number of drawbacks. First, e-carts may require a user to leave the page they are currently viewing to complete a transaction. For example, an e-cart may contain a “purchase” button, and upon a user pressing the button, the user will be taken to a new page to fill out information relating to the purchase, such as billing and shipping information. This limits the ability of a user to continue to browse or view web pages while completing transactions.
A second limitation is that e-carts are typically not portable among different web sites. This results from the fact that many e-commerce web sites implement their own proprietary e-carts. Thus after a user adds an item to their cart, they will not see that item if they begin using an e-cart provided by a different e-commerce site. Further, the different e-cart systems provided by many e-commerce sites may each require individual logins, each have a unique purchasing method, and require a user to enter billing information every time the user purchases something from a new online store.
A third limitation is that many sites simply do not provide e-carts or transaction functionality due to the expense and complexity of implementation. If one of these sites desires to give users the option to purchase products mentioned on the site, the site may provide an external link. The drawback of this approach is it may require users to leave the site to purchase an item.
Thus there exists a need for an e-cart which allows a user to collect and browse items from a plurality of different websites, and which can easily be incorporated into web sites.